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Giving GoDaddy a Second Chance

Last January, GoDaddy introduced a new product called “GoDaddy Managed WordPress Hosting.” They claim that this hosting plan is optimized for WordPress which means users can expect a boost in speed and overall performance. It’s generating a lot of buzz lately most probably because they’re selling a package that’s very similar to WPEngine‘s $29/month plan for about 1/4 of the cost!

I’ve always felt that managed WordPress offers are nothing but a mere gimmick to take advantage of new users and make them spend much more money. I know for a fact that a popular advice for newbies is to “get a WordPress site because it’s easy to manage,” but most of these newbies don’t actually know anything about the platform. Due to this, they end up falling for sly marketing tactics and of course they end up paying a lot for something they could get for less. I don’t mean to offend anyone — I’m merely saying the truth.

Moving on…

There’s no way I’d spend $29/month just to get “perks” such as 24/7 WordPress support and automatic WordPress core updates. Why? I could just do those myself and I’d save more than 20 bucks a month on hosting. Besides, I don’t have any complaints about my current host at all. Speed, uptime, and support have been consistently superb for months now.

I’m currently paying $6.38/month to run this blog on a regular shared hosting environment. GoDaddy’s pricing for “managed WordPress” is $6.99/month and I think that’s very reasonable. I certainly wouldn’t mind paying a few extra cents to have my site hosted on a “WordPress-optimized environment,” have automated nightly backups generated, and get all the security stuff done for me.

Some of you may be aware that I recently published a negative review on GoDaddy’s regular shared hosting. I honestly had no intentions of using their services ever again, especially after my horrible experience with them. However, I came across a raving review on WHT and this made me feel like I wanted to give GoDaddy’s WordPress hosting a try. I’ve also been planning to launch a WordPress-powered gallery for some time now, and I think I just found the perfect opportunity to do so. Hah, that’s hitting two birds with one stone!

I had a brief conversation about this with one of GoDaddy’s reps on WHT. I asked him a few questions, like if I could expect better support on this managed WordPress platform. I also asked if I’d be able to get backups for free or if I’d need to pay $150 everytime I wanted a backup restored (serious!). Fortunately, he gave me the answers I wanted to hear and that gave me the assurance I needed.

I was really hesitant at first and I wanted to wait for a couple more months before signing up for GoDaddy’s WordPress hosting. But after my conversation with their rep, I felt they’re really working hard to improve so I decided to sign up and try their service right away. I paid for one month and only time can tell if the $6.99 plan is a great bargain or not.

In any case, I’m definitely looking forward to having a much better experience this time around. Fingers crossed!

Comments

It’s not a scam. You probably just had a lot of upgrades checked when you signed up. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not siding with them. I don’t like how some companies (including GoDaddy) have all those “unnecessary addons” automatically ticked for you before you checkout.. When I’m trying to purchase a $20 product I expect to pay $20 on checkout, not $100+.

I wouldn’t classify this as a scam though. Think of it as a “dirty” marketing tactic — it’s not good, but it’s not illegal either :)

Josh

How many basic ethics rules does one company have to break before idiots stop giving them second chances? If Go daddy had their way, you’d be paying a premium to watch YouTube and other useful services on the internet. They are a cancer on technological progress.

You have a point, but we can’t rule out the fact that there’s a chance things could change for the better. I’m not saying it’s what’s happening with GoDaddy (yet? idk) – that’s why I’m trying this service they seem to be so proud of to see if they’ve improved even just a bit, or if they’re still the same shitty company that’s been ripping off newbies/unwary people for years.

Of course I’m hoping to have a good experience this time around, although it would be ok if I didn’t since I don’t have much to lose on this particular “experiment” anyway. Besides, I’m not expecting much…but if they surprise me with a stellar performance then I’d be totally fine with that! :)

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Review Hell is a web hosting information site which mainly consists of real, based-on-experience reviews of web hosts I have used. Apart from reviewing web hosts, I diligently search for special web hosting offers and if I find any that are interesting, I post the coupon codes on this site to help people save money on their next hosting purchase.